his life to have no reward throughout
eternity, in order to gain a very small part of the world, as so many
are doing? But if the one who "shall forfeit his life,"--have no
reward in eternity,--in order to gain but a very small part of the
world, makes such a fearful, such a great mistake, far worse is the
bargain made by the unredeemed man who loses not only his life but
also loses his soul in order to gain a very small part of "the whole
world"; and yet this is what the vast majority of men are doing. We
cannot grasp it, we cannot realize it, but Jesus says that the
rewards (not salvation--1 Cor. 3:15) that men are losing are more than
"the whole world."

Another teaching of the Saviour along this line has been widely
misapplied: "He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a
certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to
bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my
barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God
said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast
provided?"--Luke 12:16-20. At once many rush to the conclusion that he
was lost, that he went to Hell; and they proceed to warn men against
laying up treasures in this life and losing their souls. But God said,
"This night thy soul shall be required of thee," not "this night thy
soul shall go to Hell." Let the Saviour make His own application: "So
is he that layeth up treasures for himself and _is not rich toward
God_."--Luke 12:21. "If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon he shall receive a reward" (1 Cor. 3:14), he is rich toward
God; "if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss" (1 Cor.
3:15), he is a fool; he spent a life here on earth and has no reward
in eternity as a result of it;--"but he himself shall be saved, yet so
as through fire."--1 Cor. 3:15. (If in the passage 1 Cor. 3:11-15,
Paul is speaking only of preachers and their work in building on the
foundation of Christ in the lives of others by their teaching, he yet
shows that some whose work abides will be rewarded, and that others
whose work shall be burned shall suffer loss and yet shall be saved;
so that the principle applies